Hello, I am a carer for a friend 86, early stage dementia. She has council paid carers too- I set that up via social workers 12 months ago. Myself my husband and 3 other friends all help her - its a sort of team.
She has lost her bottom dentures. 3 friends have done extensive search, No teeth. Can anyone advise me how to find her an NHS dentist in N London sympathetic to dementia patient. She has no memory of who her dentist is, and theres no record in any of her papers, she hasn’t been for many many years.
Any advice on how to solve the problem? She’s on Pension Credit and already has an NHS discount certificate. I’m not sure if she is scared of the dentist- she is scared of needles but you dont need that for denture fitting, do you?
Hi Hilary … welcome to the canteen.
Alzheimer’s Society for this one :
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-support/daily-living/finding-nhs-dentist
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Finding an NHS dentist
Explore the dental services available to people with dementia through the NHS.
Internet search … DENTISTS NHS DEMENTIA PATIENTS … add NORTH LONDON if needed … more links available through that.
I hope that the above link will prove to be of assistance ?
When my mum was in hospital for a while she lost weight so her gums shrunk.
The dentist advised that this would keep happening with age and as they would need to take a mould of her gums there was no guarantee that my mum would have the mental capacity to bite down hard enough to form the shape.
He advised against having them made and to switch to slightly softer food etc as she still had her bottom teeth.
I know it seems harsh but at £300 a pop for a new set of dentures that might or not fit we decided against and monitor how she got on. Well I’m pleased to say that mum has adapted really well to softer food. After all she was never gonna tuck into a steak even with her dentures in…lol.